CN118402272A

CN118402272A - NR SSB measurements with CCA in 60GHz range

Info

Publication number: CN118402272A
Application number: CN202180105021.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈翔; 崔杰; 张大伟; 何宏; 牛华宁; M·拉格哈万; O·欧泰瑞; 李启明; 唐扬
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2021-12-23
Filing date: 2021-12-23
Publication date: 2024-07-26
Also published as: WO2023115453A1; US20240297705A1

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and systems are disclosed for compensating for cell identity delays beyond the control of a UE in conjunction with standard specified cell identity timing constraints. In frequency bands that include both beam scanning requirements and Listen Before Talk (LBT) requirements, the cell identification process may be significantly delayed due to LBT failure at the base station and/or beam misalignment between the base station and the UE. Thus, the UE cell identity timing constraint may be dynamically adjusted to compensate for such delays. For example, in response to determining that one or more SSBs are not available at the UE during SMTC occasions, a time window allowing cell identification of neighboring cells may be dynamically increased. In some scenarios, if the timing increase result exceeds a predetermined threshold, the UE may restart the cell identification procedure, e.g., on the same frequency layer or on a different frequency layer.

Description

NR SSB measurements with CCA in 60GHz range

Technical Field

The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems, apparatuses, and methods for configuring measurement timing in cellular communications.

Background

The use of wireless communication systems is rapidly growing. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now also provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functions. In addition, there are many different wireless communication technologies and wireless communication standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), bluetooth ^TM, and the like.

The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functions in wireless communication devices has also created a continuing need for improved wireless communication as well as improved wireless communication devices. In particular, as different UE capabilities and new frequency ranges are integrated with more legacy UE devices, the UE and network may need new procedures to manage measurement and signaling resources in the network. Accordingly, improvements in this area are desired.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method for accommodating cell identification delays beyond control of a UE are presented herein.

For example, a method executable by a User Equipment (UE) is disclosed. The UE may monitor a receive channel on the first frequency layer using a beam scanning procedure to attempt to receive up to a predetermined number (S) of synchronization signals from neighboring base stations at scheduled measurement occasions within an allowed time window. The beam scanning process may include performing a plurality of passes of the beam scan, wherein a pass of the beam scan includes monitoring the receive channel at N consecutive scheduled measurement occasions according to N different beam directions. The initial value of the allowed time window may include N x S scheduled measurement occasions. For each round of beam scanning performed within the allowed time window, the UE may determine whether a synchronization signal is received at any of the scheduled measurement occasions of the respective round of beam scanning. In response to determining that no synchronization signal is received at any of the scheduled measurement occasions of the beam scanning of the respective round, the UE may increase the allowed time window by a time sufficient to include a predetermined number of additional scheduled measurement occasions.

In some scenarios, the UE may transmit a synchronization signal measurement report to the serving base station within the predetermined time window upon successful receipt of S synchronization signals. In some such scenarios, the synchronization signal measurement report may include a cell identity of a neighboring cell and a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), or a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) of the received synchronization signal. In some such scenarios, the UE may decode a first subset of the S synchronization signals to obtain the cell identity of the neighboring cell and measure a second subset of the S synchronization signals to obtain the at least one of the RSRP, the RSRQ, or the SINR.

In some scenarios, the UE may determine that the allowed time window has increased beyond a predetermined threshold. The UE may restart the allowed time window in response to determining that the allowed time window has increased beyond the predetermined threshold. In some such scenarios, the UE may also transition to monitoring a different second frequency layer in response to determining that the allowed time window has increased beyond the predetermined threshold. In some such scenarios, the predetermined threshold may be determined based on a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle length used by the UE.

In some scenarios, the receive channel may be included in a frequency band where a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure is required.

In some scenarios, the predetermined number of additional scheduled measurement occasions may be N additional scheduled measurement occasions.

Apparatuses, systems and memory media for performing any of the above-described methods are disclosed.

It is noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented and/or used with a number of different types of devices including, but not limited to, base stations, access points, mobile phones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and/or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it should be understood that the features described above are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of the various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some embodiments;

fig. 2 illustrates an example base station in communication with an example wireless User Equipment (UE) device, in accordance with some embodiments;

fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station in accordance with some embodiments;

fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for performing a cell identification procedure with beam scanning in a Listen Before Talk (LBT) environment, in accordance with some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

Detailed Description

Acronyms

Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most commonly used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are provided below:

UE: user equipment

RF: radio frequency

GSM: global mobile communication system

UMTS: universal mobile telecommunication system

EUTRA: evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access

LTE: long term evolution

NR: new radio

TX: transmission/emission

RX: reception/reception

RAT: radio access technology

MAC: medium access control

GNSS: global navigation satellite system

RSRP: reference signal received power

RSRQ: reference signal reception quality

BWP: bandwidth part

MGRP: measurement of gap repetition period

SSB: synchronous signal block

SMTC: SSB measurement timing configuration

CSSF: carrier specific scaling factor

LBT: listen before talk

CCA: clear channel assessment

Terminology

The following is a glossary of terms that may appear in this disclosure:

Memory medium-any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include mounting media such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, rambus RAM, etc.; nonvolatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing the program or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system through a network such as the internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside, for example, in different locations in different computer systems connected by a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) executable by one or more processors.

Carrier medium-a memory medium as described above, and physical transmission media such as buses, networks, and/or other physical transmission media conveying signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Computer system (or computer) -any of a variety of types of computing systems or processing systems, including Personal Computer Systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet appliances, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor, which executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") -any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone ^TM, android ^TM based phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad ^TM、Samsung Galaxy^TM), portable gaming devices (e.g., nintendo DS ^TM、PlayStation Portable^TM、Gameboy Advance^TM、iPhone^TM), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptop computers, PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and/or motor vehicles, unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), and the like. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of such devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Wireless device-any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. The wireless device may be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A UE is one example of a wireless device.

Communication device-any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communications, where the communications may be wired or wireless. The communication device may be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

Base Station (BS) -the term "base station" has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

Processing element (or processor) -refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing the functions in a device, such as a user equipment device or a cellular network device. The processing element may include, for example: processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and any combinations of the foregoing.

Wi-Fi-the term "Wi-Fi" has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT, which is served by Wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and through which connectivity to the internet is provided. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the designation "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

By automatically, it is meant that an action or operation is performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASIC, etc.) without the need to directly specify or perform the action or operation by user input. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to operations being performed or specified manually by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. The automated process may be initiated by user-provided input, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually", where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user fills in an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) to manually fill in the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to user actions. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system that (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user entering an answer to the specified fields. As indicated above, the user may refer to the automatic filling of the form, but not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers to the fields, but they do so automatically). The present description provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that a user has taken.

Configured-various components may be described as "configured to" perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, "configured to" is a broad expression generally representing "having" structure "that" performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when a component is not currently performing a task, the component may be configured to perform the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad expression of structure that generally means "having" circuitry "that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry forming the structure corresponding to "configured to" may comprise hardware circuitry.

For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be construed to include the phrase "configured to". The expression component configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not refer to the component for explanation in section 112 of the 35 th heading of the american code.

Fig. 1 and 2-exemplary communication systems

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented, in accordance with some embodiments. It is noted that the system of fig. 1 is only one example of a possible system, and that the embodiment may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number of) user devices 106A, 106B, etc. to 106N over a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or UE device. Thus, the user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

Base station 102 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware and/or software to enable wireless communications with UEs 106A-106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as "gNodeB" or "gNB". The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and/or the internet, as well as various possible networks). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and/or between a user device and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell. Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent a network taking into account the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Thus, a UE in communication with one or more base stations in a network may also be understood as a UE in communication with a network.

The base station 102 and user equipment may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), LAA/LTE-U, 5G NR, 3gpp2 cdma2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), wi-Fi, etc.

Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cellular networks that may provide continuous or near continuous overlapping services to UEs 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Note that the UE 106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of a 3GPP cellular communication standard or a 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to compensate for cell identification delays, such as according to various methods described herein. The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using WLAN, bluetooth ^TM, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H), and/or the like. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A-106N) in communication with a base station 102, in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, wearable device, computer or tablet, unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), unmanned flight controller (UAC), automobile, or almost any type of wireless device. The UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, the UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), integrated circuits, and/or any of a variety of other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method embodiments described herein or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. The UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE-a, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas to communicate using one or more wireless communication protocols in accordance with one or more RAT standards. In some implementations, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and/or the transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio may include a single antenna or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communications (e.g., for MIMO). In general, the radio may include any combination of baseband processors, analog RF signal processing circuits (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuits (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As another possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radios shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radios that are uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include shared radio components for communicating using any of LTE or CDMA20001xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and separate radio components for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and bluetooth ^TM. Other configurations are also possible.

FIG. 3-block diagram of an exemplary UE device

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary UE 106, according to some embodiments. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. In some implementations, the display 360 may include a touch screen capable of detecting user input, for example, as a touch event. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of a variety of possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit configured to detect motion of the UE 106, e.g., using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and/or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuit 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, e.g., for measuring the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and/or other components of the UE 106. Any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuits may also or alternatively be included in the UE 106, as desired. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read Only Memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and/or other circuits or devices, such as display circuitry 304, radio 330, connector interface (I/F) 320, and/or display 360.MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuitry of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, docking station, charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, bluetooth ^TM, wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335 a) and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., illustrated by antennas 335a and 335 b) for performing wireless communications with base stations and/or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example and UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Collectively, the one or more antennas are referred to as antenna 335. For example, UE device 106 may perform wireless communications with radio circuitry 330 using antenna 335. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using a plurality of wireless communication standards.

The UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing a method for the UE 106 to compensate for cell identification delays, such as described further herein below. The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, such as by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). Further, the processor 302 may be coupled to and/or interoperate with other components as shown in fig. 3 to compensate for cell identification delays according to various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 may also implement various other applications and/or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

In some embodiments, the radio 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for various respective RAT standards. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., LTE-a, and/or NR controller) 354, and a bluetooth ^TM controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (simply referred to as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (and more particularly with the processor 302). For example, wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and/or bluetooth ^TM controller 356 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or the like. Although three separate controllers are illustrated within radio 330, other embodiments may be implemented in UE device 106 having fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs.

In addition, embodiments are also contemplated in which the controller may implement functionality associated with multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, in addition to hardware and/or software components for performing cellular communications, cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and/or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and/or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

FIG. 4-block diagram of an exemplary base station

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102, according to some embodiments. Note that the base station of fig. 4 is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate the addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to a plurality of devices, such as UE device 106, of the telephone network as described above in fig. 1 and 2. The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via a core network, and/or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may also be configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio 430. An antenna 434 communicates with the radio circuit 430 via a communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. The radio 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunications standards including, but not limited to NR, LTE, LTE-a WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. The processor 404 of the base station 102 can be configured to implement and/or support implementation of some or all of the methods described herein, such as by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., wi-Fi), base station 102 may be designed as an Access Point (AP), in which case network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and/or one or more local area networks, e.g., it may include at least one ethernet port, and radio 430 may be designed to communicate in accordance with the Wi-Fi standard.

Adjusting cell identification time window

As cellular communications become more ubiquitous, existing frequency resources have become more crowded, resulting in efforts to extend cellular communications into new frequency ranges. For example, 3GPP is currently evaluating the use of a new frequency band in the range of 52.6GHz-71GHz, which has been designated as FR2-2.

Because higher frequencies may result in increased path loss, communications in this and other high frequency bands may use beamforming techniques implemented by the base station and/or the UE. For example, when a base station, such as base station 102, transmits signals to a UE, such as UE 106, the base station may utilize TX beamforming to steer the signals toward the UE, and the UE may utilize RX beamforming when seeking to receive the signals. If the UE is not currently connected to the base station, the UE may not have information about the correct beam to use when receiving the signal. Thus, the UE may perform a beam scanning procedure to improve reception of signals.

One example of such a beam scanning procedure may be applied in connection with the reception of Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) for cell identification and measurement of neighboring cells. The UE may periodically receive SSBs from base stations of neighboring cells, e.g., to support cell handovers, addition of new component carriers, etc. The UE may decode a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and/or a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) included in the SSB to identify the transmitting cell. The UE may also measure characteristics of the SSB, such as measuring Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and/or signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR or SS-SINR), and may report such measurements to the network via the serving cell.

A base station may transmit such SSBs with beamforming directed towards the UE during periodic SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) occasions scheduled for the UE. The network may transmit SMTC occasion timing to the UE, e.g., via RRC signaling. During SMTC occasions, the UE may attempt to receive SSBs from the base station. For inter-frequency measurements (e.g., if the neighboring base station transmits SSBs on a different frequency band than the frequency band that the UE is using for any current serving cell), the UE may detune the serving cell to receive SSBs, e.g., during a scheduled measurement gap consistent with SMTC opportunities. Between SMTC occasions, the UE may perform other tasks, such as transmitting and/or receiving communications with the current serving cell.

Because the UE is not currently connected to a neighboring cell, the UE may not have accurate/current beamforming information for receiving SSBs, especially if the neighboring cell has not been detected earlier. However, only if the correct beamforming configuration is used, the UE may be able to successfully decode and/or measure the SSB. Thus, to successfully receive SSBs, the UE may scan through a series of directional RX beams. The number of RX beams used may be referred to as a beam scanning factor (N). For example, n=8 has been currently defined for frequency bands FR2-1,3GPP. The UE may receive on one RX beam during each SMTC occasion and may scan through the N RX beams during N consecutive SMTC occasions. Thus, the UE may wish to successfully receive SSBs on one of every N SMTC occasions. In order to successfully decode the SSB, the UE may need to successfully receive up to three copies of the SSB. Thus, successful decoding of SSBs for cell identification may be expected to involve up to about 3*N (e.g., 24) SMTC occasions. Measuring the average power of the received SSB may similarly require 3 successful samples, and in some implementations may begin after the cell identification procedure is successful. Thus, performing both cell identification and power measurements may be expected to involve up to about 6*N (e.g., 48) SMTC occasions.

To ensure that the cellular network can operate at a desired speed and efficiency level, an applicable standards body may specify a maximum cell identification time during which any UE operating on the network is able to perform such neighbor cell identification. For example, the current 3GPP standard, as defined by 3GPP TS 38.133V.17.3.0 (hereinafter referred to as "TS 38.133") (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), defines such procedures for use in FR1 and FR 2-1. For example, TS 38.133 section 9.2.5.1 specifies that for intra-frequency measurements, in some cases "UE should be able to identify a new detectable intra-frequency cell within T _{identify_intra_without_index}. The value of T _{identify_intra_without_index} is currently defined as: t _{identify_intra_without_index}＝(T_{PSS/SSS_sync_intra}+T_{SSB_measurement_period_intra}) ms. Similar values are defined for other cases such as measurements using SSB indexes, measurements using measurement gaps, and inter-frequency measurements.

The value T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra} is the period of time that the PSS/SSS is allowed to be detected and decoded, and is defined for some cases in the following table as one example:

TABLE 1

The value T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra} is the period of time allowed for measuring SSB and is defined for some cases in the following table as one example:

TABLE 2

The term "SMTC period" indicates the periodicity at which SMTC opportunities occur for the UE, while the term "DRX cycle" indicates the length of the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle of the UE, e.g. in ms. The value M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps} represents the number of SMTC occasions that the UE is expected to need to successfully decode the PSS/SSS. The value M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} represents the number of SMTC occasions that the UE is expected to need to successfully measure SSB. For the reasons discussed above, for UEs supporting power levels 2, 3, or 4, both M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps} and M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} are currently fixed at 24 (i.e., 3*N, where n=8). For purposes of this discussion, K _p、K_{layer1_measurement} and CSSF _intra may be considered as scaling factors that do not require further description.

However, the previous values and definitions may not be feasible in some frequency ranges, such as the proposed FR2-2 range. For example, in some scenarios, an applicable frequency range (such as the proposed FR2-2 range) may be included in the unlicensed frequency band. This may require the UE and/or the base station to perform a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure prior to transmission, requiring a successful Clear Channel Assessment (CCA). In some scenarios, CCA may fail due to congestion on channels from other devices transmitting according to the cellular RAT or according to some other RAT, such as IEEE 802.11 ay. Such CCA failure may result in the base station not transmitting the desired signal, such as SSB. Thus, the UE may not be able to successfully detect SSBs from neighboring cells during the entire complete round of beam scanning, thus requiring additional SMTC opportunities for the UE to complete the cell identification procedure.

To address such issues, networks operating in the high frequency range and/or in the unlicensed frequency band may employ different parameters and/or different UE behaviors in conjunction with cell identification time requirements to accommodate cell identification delays beyond the control of the UE. For example, the cell identification time (e.g., T _{identify_intra_without_index_CCA}) may continue to be defined as the sum of the PSS/SSS decoding time (e.g., T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}) and the SSB measurement time (e.g., T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA}), but the value of such time window may be modified relative to existing procedures, e.g., as discussed below.

In some implementations, the time allowed for detection and decoding of PSS/SSS may be dynamically adjusted to compensate for SSB RX failure caused by the network. For example, in the context of a 3GPP network operating in the FR2-2 range, the value M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps} may be replaced with a dynamically variable value, the value denoted herein as M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA}.M_{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} may be defined according to any scheme that compensates for SSB RX failure caused by the network. Two example options for defining M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} are presented below.

According to a first option, M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA}＝M_{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps}+N*SR_pss/sss. Here, the beam scanning factor N may be set to 8, as currently defined for FR2-1, or may have a different value. It should be noted that if N is given a different value, then M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps} may have a value other than the currently defined value 24, as M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps} may be a function of N, as described above.

SR _PSS/SSS is an integer value representing the number of passes within T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA} that include at least one SSB RX failure beam scan for which compensation should be made. Thus, the product n×sr _PSS/SSS represents the number of additional SMTC occasions to be performed during T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA} because SSBs are not available at the UE during T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA} for PSS/SSS detection (e.g., due to LBT failure at the base station) or because the UE (e.g., due to beam misalignment) cannot successfully detect any SSBs. For example, SR _PSS/SSS may be initially set to 0 and may be incremented up to once per beam scanning round in response to SSR RX failure due to LBT failure or beam misalignment during the corresponding beam scanning round. Specifically, if within T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}, SMTC occasion (denoted as occasion X) becomes unavailable due to LBT failure or beam misalignment, SR _PSS/SSS may be incremented to 1.SR _PSS/SSS may then be incremented further at least until the next beam scanning round. Specifically, if at least one SMTC occasion becomes unavailable due to LBT failure or beam misalignment within the set of occasions occurring at x+n to x+2*N-1, SR _PSS/SSS may be incremented again.

The UE may not have information about whether LBT failure or beam misalignment has occurred. Thus, if the UE is determining M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA}, the UE may increment SR _PSS/SSS each time the UE fails to receive SSB within N consecutive SMTC occasions.

In some implementations, the maximum value SR _PSS/SSS,max may also be set to prevent an infinite increase in M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} (and thus T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}). In some implementations, SR _PSS/SSS,max can be set to different values for different DRX cycle lengths. If SR _PSS/SSS increases to a value greater than SR _PSS/SSS,max, the UE may switch to another frequency layer for cell detection, e.g., as configured by the network, and may restart the cell identification procedure on the new frequency layer. Alternatively, if SR _PSS/SSS increases to a value greater than SR _PSS/SSS,max, the UE and/or network may remove the timing requirements for PSS/SSS detection. For example, if SR _PSS/SSS exceeds SR _PSS/SSS,max, the UE may not need to decode the PSS/SSS within the time specified by the PSS/SSS decoding time (e.g., T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra}).

In some implementations, as an alternative to providing a maximum value for SR _PSS/SSS, SR _PSS/SSS may only be increased during the first M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps} SMTC opportunities of T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}.

According to a second option, M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA}＝M_{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps}+J*L_PSS/SSS. Here, L _PSS/SSS is an integer value, representing the number of SMTC occasions during which SSBs are not available at the UE during T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA} for PSS/SSS detection (e.g., due to LBT failure at the base station). J is an integer value not less than 1 and not greater than N. In some scenarios, J may be fixed or predetermined.

In some implementations, the maximum value L _PSS/SSS,max may also be set to prevent M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} (and thus T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}) from increasing infinitely. In some implementations, L _PSS/SSS,max can be set to different values for different DRX cycle lengths. If L _PSS/SSS increases to a value greater than L _PSS/SSS,max, the UE may switch to another frequency layer for cell detection, e.g., as configured by the network. Alternatively, if L _PSS/SSS increases to a value greater than L _PSS/SSS,max, the UE and/or network may remove the requirement for PSS/SSS detection. For example, if L _PSS/SSS exceeds L _PSS/SSS,max, the UE may not need to decode the PSS/SSS within the time specified by the PSS/SSS decoding time (e.g., T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}).

In some implementations, as an alternative to providing the maximum value of L _PSS/SSS, L _PSS/SSS may only be increased during the first M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps} SMTC opportunities of T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}.

As a variation of the second option, M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA}＝M_{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps}+J*L_{PSS/SSS_max}. In this variation, M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} may increase a greater (e.g., maximum) number of SMTC opportunities in response to determining that any SMTC opportunities have been discarded. Such a variation may alleviate the burden of increasing the number of SMTC occasions incrementally based on the number of SMTC occasions discarded.

In some implementations, the time allowed to measure SSB may similarly be dynamically adjusted to compensate for SSB RX failure caused by the network. For example, in the context of a 3GPP network operating in the FR2-2 range, the value M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} may be replaced with a dynamically variable value, the value denoted herein as M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA}.M_{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA} may be defined according to any scheme that compensates for SSB RX failure caused by the network. Two example options for defining M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA} are presented below.

According to a first option, M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA}＝M_{meas_period_w/o_gaps}+N*SR_meas. Here, the beam scanning factor N may be set to 8, as currently defined for FR2-1, or may have a different value. It should be noted that if N is given a different value, then M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} may have a value other than the currently defined value 24, as M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} may be a function of N, as discussed above.

SR _meas is an integer value representing the number of beam sweep passes within T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA} that include at least one SSB RX failure for which compensation should be made. Thus, the product n×sr _meas represents the number of additional SMTC occasions to be performed during T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA} because SSBs are not available for measurement at the UE during T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA} (e.g., due to LBT failure at the base station) or because the UE (e.g., due to beam misalignment) cannot successfully detect any SSBs. For example, SR _meas may be initially set to 0 and may be incremented up to once per beam scanning round in response to SSR RX failure due to LBT failure or beam misalignment during the corresponding beam scanning round. Specifically, if within T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA}, SMTC occasion (denoted as occasion Y) becomes unavailable due to LBT failure or beam misalignment, SR _meas may be incremented to 1.SR _meas may then be incremented further at least until the next beam scanning round. Specifically, if at least one SMTC occasion becomes unavailable due to LBT failure or beam misalignment within the set of occasions occurring at y+n to y+2*N-1, SR _meas may be incremented again.

The UE may not have information about whether LBT failure or beam misalignment has occurred. Thus, if the UE is determining M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA}, the UE may increment SR _meas each time the UE fails to receive SSB within N consecutive SMTC occasions.

In some implementations, the maximum value SR _meas,max can also be set to prevent an infinite increase in M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA} (and thus T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA}). In some implementations, SR _meas,max can be set to different values for different DRX cycle lengths. If SR _meas increases to a value greater than SR _meas,max, the UE may restart the measurement procedure. For example, the UE may restart T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA} and ignore earlier measurement samples, but may maintain the results of previous cell identification procedures (e.g., cell identification information determined during T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}). As another example, the UE may restart the entire cell identification procedure, e.g., by restarting T _{identify_intra_without_index} and ignoring the earlier cell identification and measurement samples. In some implementations, the UE may restart the cell identification procedure on the same frequency layer. In other implementations, the UE may restart the cell identification procedure on a different frequency layer, e.g., as configured by the network.

In some implementations, as an alternative to providing a maximum value for SR _meas, SR _meas may only be increased during the first M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} SMTC opportunities of T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA}.

According to a second option, M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA}＝M_{meas_period_w/o_gaps}+K*L_meas. Here, L _meas is an integer value, representing the number of SMTC occasions during which SSBs are not available for measurement at the UE during T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA} (e.g., due to LBT failure at the base station). K is an integer value not less than 1 and not greater than N. In some scenarios, K may be fixed or predetermined.

In some implementations, the maximum value L _meas,max may also be set to prevent M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA} (and thus T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA}) from increasing infinitely. In some implementations, L _meas,max can be set to different values for different DRX cycle lengths. If L _PSS/SSS increases to a value greater than L _meas,max, the UE may restart the measurement procedure. For example, the UE may restart T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA} and ignore earlier measurement samples, but may maintain the results of previous cell identification procedures (e.g., cell identification information determined during T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra_CCA}). As another example, the UE may restart the entire cell identification procedure, e.g., by restarting T _{identify_intra_without_index} and ignoring the earlier cell identification and measurement samples. In some implementations, the UE may restart the cell identification procedure on the same frequency layer. In other implementations, the UE may restart the cell identification procedure on a different frequency layer, e.g., as configured by the network.

In some implementations, as an alternative to providing the maximum value of L _meas, L _meas may only be increased during the first M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps} SMTC opportunities of T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra_CCA}.

As a variation of the second option, M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA}＝M_{meas_period_w/o_gaps}+K*L_{meas_max}. In this variation, M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA} may increase a greater (e.g., maximum) number of SMTC opportunities in response to determining that any SMTC opportunities have been discarded. Such a variation may alleviate the burden of increasing the number of SMTC occasions incrementally based on the number of SMTC occasions discarded.

In some scenarios, a combination of LBT failure and beam scanning may result in a long period of time between SSBs successfully received at the UE. Thus, in some implementations, a gap threshold may be applied. For example, if after the UE receives the first SSB, a time exceeding the gap threshold passes without the UE successfully receiving a subsequent SSB, the first SSB (and any previous SSBs) may be considered stale and may be discarded by the UE. The UE may then restart the PSS/SSS detection process and/or SSB measurement process. In some implementations, the gap threshold may be a fixed value, for example, identified by an applicable communication standard. In other implementations, the gap threshold may be signaled by the network.

Similar modifications can be applied with reference to inter-frequency measurements. For example, in the context of FR2-1, T _{identify_inter_without_index}＝(T_{PSS/SSS_sync_inter}+T_{SSB_measurement_period_inter}) ms, and T _{identify_inter_with_index}＝(T_{PSS/SSS_sync_inter}+T_{SSB_measurement_period_inter}+T_{SSB_time_index_inter}) ms, as currently defined by 3gpp TS 38.133. These timing values may be modified to depend on the dynamically variable values M _{PSS/SSS_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} or M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA} in the same manner as described above with reference to the intra-frequency scenario.

Fig. 5-example cell identification procedure

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for performing a cell identification procedure with beam scanning in an LBT environment, according to some embodiments. The method of fig. 5 may be performed by a UE (such as UE 106) or by some component thereof (such as by radio 330 and/or cellular controller 354). As shown, the method of fig. 5 may operate as follows.

At 502, the UE 106 may monitor a receive channel on the first frequency layer using a beam scanning procedure to attempt to receive up to a predetermined number (S) of synchronization signals, such as SSBs, from neighboring base stations. In some implementations, the receive channel may be included in a frequency band where the LBT procedure is desired to be used. The UE may expect to receive the synchronization signal at a scheduled measurement occasion, such as an SMTC occasion, within an allowed time window. For example, applicable criteria may define an allowed time window for the UE to: decoding cell identification information such as PSS/SSS; measuring received power, such as RSRP; or both. The beam scanning process may include performing a plurality of passes of beam scanning. One round of beam scanning may include monitoring the receive channel at N consecutive scheduled measurement occasions according to N different beam directions. As discussed above, N may represent a beamforming factor.

In some scenarios, an initial value may be defined for the allowed time window. The initial value of the allowed time window may include N x S scheduled measurement occasions. For example, in some scenarios, S may represent the number of synchronization signals (e.g., 3) that must be successfully decoded to determine the cell identification information included in the synchronization signals. As another example, S may represent the number of synchronization signals (e.g., 3) that must be measured to determine the average received power of the synchronization signals. As yet another example, S may represent the number of synchronization signals (e.g., 6) that must be received to perform both cell identification and power measurement. Thus, in some implementations, the initial value may be equivalent to a cell identification time (such as T _{identify_intra_without_index} or T _{identify_inter_without_index}), a decoding time (such as T _{PSS/SSS_sync_intra} or T _{PSS/SSS_sync_inter}), or a power measurement time (such as T _{SSB_measurement_period_intra} or T _{SSB_measurement_period_inter}).

At 504, for each round of beam scanning performed within the allowed time window, the UE 106 may determine whether a synchronization signal has been received at any of the scheduled measurement occasions of the respective round of beam scanning. For example, in some scenarios, a synchronization signal may not be received during one or more of the scheduled measurement occasions due to LBT failure or beam misalignment.

At 506, in response to determining that no synchronization signal is received at any of the scheduled measurement occasions of the respective round of beam scanning, the UE 106 may increase the allowed time window by a time sufficient to include a predetermined number of additional scheduled measurement occasions. For example, the UE 106 may increase the allowed time window by a time sufficient to include N additional scheduled measurement occasions. As another example, the UE 106 may increase the allowed time window by a time sufficient to include one additional scheduled measurement occasion. In some scenarios, increasing the allowed time window by a time sufficient to include a predetermined number of additional scheduled measurement opportunities may include increasing the value of M (e.g., M _{pss/sss_sync_w/o_gaps_CCA} or M _{meas_period_w/o_gaps_CCA}) by a predetermined number of SMTC opportunities, as discussed above.

At 508, the UE may determine that the allowed time window has increased beyond a predetermined threshold. In some scenarios, the predetermined threshold may be determined based on a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle length used by the UE.

In response, the UE may restart the allowed time window at 510. Thus, the UE may resume monitoring the reception channel in an attempt to receive S synchronization signals. In some scenarios, the UE may also transition to monitoring a different frequency layer.

In other scenarios, the UE may not determine that the allowed time window has increased beyond a predetermined threshold, in which case 508 and 510 may be omitted. For example, the UE may instead determine that S synchronization signals have been successfully received. The UE may decode the received synchronization signal and/or measure the power of the received synchronization signal. In some such scenarios, the UE may respond by transmitting a synchronization signal measurement report to the serving base station within a predetermined time window. For example, the synchronization signal measurement report may include the cell identity of the neighboring cell and the RSRP of the received synchronization signal.

It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be specified to the user.

Any of the methods described herein for operating a UE may form the basis for a corresponding method for operating a base station by interpreting each message/signal X received by the User Equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message/signal X transmitted by the base station and interpreting each message/signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message/signal Y received by the base station.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in any of various forms. For example, in some embodiments, the present subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the present subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as an ASIC. In other embodiments, the present subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured to store program instructions and/or data that, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

By a User Equipment (UE):

Monitoring a receive channel on a first frequency layer using a beam scanning procedure to attempt to receive up to a predetermined number (S) of synchronization signals from neighboring base stations at scheduled measurement occasions within an allowed time window, wherein the beam scanning procedure comprises performing a plurality of passes of beam scanning, wherein a pass of beam scanning comprises monitoring the receive channel at N consecutive scheduled measurement occasions according to N different beam directions, wherein an initial value of the allowed time window comprises N x S scheduled measurement occasions; and

Beam scanning for each round performed within the allowed time window:

Determining whether a synchronization signal has been received at any of the scheduled measurement occasions of the beam scanning of the respective round; and

In response to determining that no synchronization signal is received at any of the scheduled measurement occasions of the beam scanning of the respective round, the allowed time window is increased by a time sufficient to include a predetermined number of additional scheduled measurement occasions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Transmitting a synchronization signal measurement report to the serving base station within the predetermined time window upon successful reception of the S synchronization signals.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the synchronization signal measurement report includes a cell identity of a neighboring cell and at least one of: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), or signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) of the received synchronization signal.

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising:

decoding a first subset of the S synchronization signals to obtain the cell identity of the neighboring cell; and

A second subset of the S synchronization signals is measured to obtain the at least one of the RSRP, the RSRQ, or the SINR.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the allowed time window has increased beyond a predetermined threshold; and

In response to determining that the allowed time window has increased beyond the predetermined threshold, restarting the allowed time window.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in response to determining that the allowed time window has increased beyond the predetermined threshold, transitioning to monitoring a different second frequency layer.

7. The method of any of claims 5-6, wherein the predetermined threshold is determined based on a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle length used by the UE.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the receive channel is included in a frequency band where a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure is required.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the predetermined number of additional scheduled measurement occasions is N additional scheduled measurement occasions.

10. An apparatus for performing a communication function in a User Equipment (UE) device, the apparatus comprising:

A memory storing software instructions; and

At least one processor configured to execute the software instructions to cause the UE to:

Beam scanning for each round performed within the allowed time window:

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the software instructions further cause the UE to:

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the synchronization signal measurement report comprises a cell identity of a neighboring cell and at least one of: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), or signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) of the received synchronization signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the software instructions further cause the UE to:

The received power of a second subset of the S synchronization signals is measured to obtain the at least one of the RSRP, the RSRQ, or the SINR.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the software instructions further cause the UE to:

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the software instructions further cause the UE to:

16. The apparatus of any of claims 14-15, wherein the predetermined threshold is determined based on a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle length used by the UE.

17. A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing software instructions that, when executed by a processor of a User Equipment (UE), cause the UE to:

Beam scanning for each round performed within the allowed time window:

18. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 17, wherein the software instructions further cause the UE to:

19. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 18, wherein the software instructions further cause the UE to:

20. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of any one of claims 18-19, wherein the predetermined threshold is determined based on a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle length used by the UE.